Border Patrol agent in Arizona charged with 10 counts of child pornography possession, creation
A jury indicted Border Patrol Agent Nereo Mejia Gomez Jr., 41, on Tuesday on 10 counts related to child pornography possession and creation.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona, announced the charges for Gomez, who is a Border Patrol agent stationed on the Arizona-Mexico border within the jurisdiction of the Yuma Sector.
The charges allege that Gomez produced child pornography in November 2022 and March 2023, involving a girl who was 15 and 16 years old at the time, respectively.
Gomez distributed those illegal videos five times between February and March 2024 using interstate commerce to distribute the material, the charges allege.
Gomez also was charged with one count of possessing an unregistered firearm, with a barrel shorter than the legal limit of 16 inches.
A federal magistrate judge ordered Gomez to be released pending trial.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was investigating the case, while the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona, handled the prosecution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office news release.
The Yuma Sector of Customs and Border Protection was cooperating with the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Gomez faces a total of 11 counts: four counts of production of child pornography, six counts of knowingly possessing child pornography, and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm.
The news release said a child pornography production charge carries a potential sentence of 15 to 30 years, while other individual child pornography possession charges each carry 20 years.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Yuma-area Border Patrol agent faces child pornography charges
